Efficient alternate energy portable fuels are required to end our dependence on fossil fuels. Hydrogen holds the most promise in that reguard. Exploring the paths open for meeting the goal of energy independence is the object of this blog. Hopefully you will find it interesting and informative.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Sci-Fi and the Tropopause Heat Sink

I have been goofing around attempting to write a Science Fiction novel for a year or so. In my society of the future, the denizens would have to have dealt with today's issues to progress to what my vision of the future would be. I was never satisfied with how the Global Warming thing worked out. So I had to work on a Coming Ice Age Scenario or some wonderful technological magic. Fantastical technology is a bit over done in sci-fi, so I was thinking, a combination of nature and technology stumbling to a compromise.

That's what started me reading up on the Global Warming stuff. You need a few inept scientific characters for a humorous aside in a good novel, where better to look?

The Tropopause heat sink was something that looked totally plausable. The Trop does neat stuff. All the drawings in the encyclopedias have these neat and tidy lines showing a flat temperature profile. That's kinda weird, so I needed a little imagination to figure out how weird to make it.

How's this;

Okay, it's a low budget Sci-fi visual..

The flat sides where there is no change in temperature in the Tropopause represent a region of constant net energy flux. When there is a change in up welling flux, the temperature decreases to allow more tropopause relief (the light blue triangles). When the flux decreases the length of the constant flux lengthens to oppose the reduction. An energy flux variable venturi. That sounds pretty Sci-Fi-ish.

What happens is that the little e below the venturi remains pretty constant. Conductive and latent flux increases which tends to increase the little e on top of the venturi. Excess energy is forced out the side spectral windows of the venturi, relieving energy and decreasing the temperature, which narrows the width of the venturi.

Then I was going to explain how the increased percentage of conductive flux below the tropopause tended to smir the radiant spectra because of the relative motion of the photons banging around more than normal. You've got to have some reference to relativity, special or otherwise, in a good sci-fi novel even though no one really understands that stuff. The poor scientist that discovered the relationship had to prove how valuable Antarctica was to the climate environment, to save Earth. Nasty corporation types where planning on developing the vast southern continent. Corporate types make great villains.

Of course, this same relativity thing was how I was going to get the space ship's pulse fusion drive to near light so it could, dark matter lens, to over the apparent speed of light, without the occupants turning into gravity induced spagetti. I thought that may be cooler than the wormhole thing.

Oh, how did future Earth dewelers survive the Coming Ice Age? That was pretty easy.